The Grand Conference of the four islands had been called together for its fourth emergency meeting of the year. With the death of her father and mother, and an army at their border, there was no time to waste.

The Conference revolved from island to island, so she sailed her ship to western Despoine, where the great while villa of its king shone in the sun. It wasn't worth it to climb all those stairs just for a gathering, she griped as she heaved her dress over marble and stone, but parties were parties. What were politics without extreme formality?

Harsh eyes were on her the moment she walked into the ballroom. The ladies hid their frowns behind their fans, and the men clenched their jaws, but she kept her head high. The nobles of Despoine, no, of any of the other islands, loathed the power she held at such a young age. She'd fussed over her clothes for hours, even if Nasch did nothing but roll his eyes at her antics. If she was going to be glared at so fiercely like this, look good.

Lord Blackray, the current King of Despoine, was the only royal to blatantly ignore everyone that tried approaching him. He wasted no time on socializing, and went straight to the wine table. A downed glass did nothing to budge his stern expression. He stood a good head above everyone else, and would surely tower over her if she happened to stand by his side. He'd slicked back his black hair today, but the blue streaks framing his face were still as unkempt as ever. The dark jacket and loose pants around his lithe form hid the burns he'd sustained during one of his war campaigns, but she could spot some marred skin peeking out from the mauve edges of his clothes. Whenever he visited, Blackray always shirked her company in favor of her brother's, but now she would have no choice but to deal with his snippy attitude.

She dawdled by the stained glass windows, sipping idly at her drink. The less people that spoke to her, the better. Whatever they said with their poisonous tongues was nothing but nonsense.

A commotion rose up from the middle of the room as murmurs turned into a frenzy of whispers. The guests cast troubled looks towards the woman who entered the room on crystal tipped heels. She was definitely an eye-turner, from the glass beads strung into her powder blue dress to her green-tipped eyes. Her hair was short now, burned off from an encounter with smugglers and their fire arrows, and she hid the snipped ends with a cap of lace and teardrop diamonds. Lady Harpyia, the Queen of Arion in the north, was unquestionably lovely to the eye, and not even the jagged battle scars on her long legs could change that.

Harpyia's spy network was unparalleled throughout the four kingdoms, no matter how many doubtful nobles said otherwise. One step out of line and she was sure to crush the offender into the dust- or so Merag's mother had said. Harpyia caught her gaze through the crowd and shot a coy smile. Merag returned the gesture, but quickly returned to her glass.

This party was a prison of dignified attire and red wine. She wished she could climb out one of the windows, but then she'd be no more dignified than Nasch. She slid over to the refreshment table and munched on some stuffed clams.

"Oh my, you look wonderful today, Merag." There was only one person that silvery voice could belong to. It was easy for Merag to put on a smile. Out of all the nobles, Lady Ondyne was the closest to her age, and the only noble she could call her friend. Her long wavy hair had been braided into a tight bun, and her eyelids were powdered a pale blue. She held herself delicately, and wore a navy blue dress of layered lace that lightly brushed the floor and made her look like she was floating. A necklace of sharp pointed crystals fanned out along her pale collarbone and glinted dangerously in the light. As the Queen of Rhode in the east, nobody dared stand by her side for too long, but she drifted along and spoke with whoever she chose to.

"Thank you, Sylphie."

"Have you tried the berry platter?" Ondyne was plum-lipped, but what could have easily been a dreadful dye looked flattering.

Merag laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm not really in the mood for food."

"Ah, yes. This is your first Conference, right?"

She nodded, but Ondyne just playfully pinched her arm. "Well, you're strong enough. Shape up! It's a battleground in there. You'll get no mercy."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Blackray's gruff voice boomed through the ballroom. "Thank you for your patience, and I welcome all of you to Despoine for the Grand Conference. Please enjoy the buffet and refreshments. In the meantime, my fellow royals, please follow me to the Red Room." He gestured towards a set of ornately decorated metal doors, heaved open by five servants each.

Ondyne linked arms with Merag and nudged her lightly in the ribs. "Come on, we have to go."

The Red Room was accurately named. A wide stained glass window overlooked the joined sea between the four islands and made each undulating wave shine with a different color. A large round mahogany table stood strong in the middle of the room, lined with four stalwart wooden chairs. There were no guards inside, but Merag could hear them shuffling around the door right before the thick doors thudded shut. The other royals strode to their chairs, and Merag stood behind the last one available.

She straightened her back and swallowed her breath. "My fellow Kings and Queens, thank you for coming together so quickly. As the one who summoned us all here," her voice was growing stronger and stronger, "I call that the Grand Conference of the Four Kingdoms begin."

They all took their seats. "Queen of Telos," Blackray said, "You have the floor."

Merag curled her fingers in towards her palms. This wouldn't be easy. "The Empire of R'lyeh is at our door. We can't let them stay there any longer."

"They haven't actually bypassed the border between our kingdoms and theirs, but their warships are still staring us down. How bold of them." Harpyia snapped open her white fan with a sharp swish.

Blackray crossed his arms firmly over his chest. "Obviously they're just waiting to attack us. They'll just gather up more arms and supplies the more we wait. Are we just going to let them stay there? We'll seem weak."

"Don't be a fool," Harpyia's honeyed voice was as sharp as needles, "This is obviously one of the emperor's ploys. Lord Asteron likes that, you know? He'll lure us into attacking first and if we lose, we'll shoulder all the blame and be executed by our own people. It's his favorite tactic."

Merag frowned. Not even five minutes and this was going nowhere. "We can talk all we want about who did what, but what are we all going to do?"

"Didn't the late King and Queen of Telos try to negotiate peace with R'lyeh?" Ondyne said, and Merag felt the hairs on her neck bristle. "They died before they could even meet the Lord Asteron for the final terms, and there were no witnesses to the ship sinking." She huffed, and crossed her arms. "Doesn't that seem a little too convenient?"

"Unfortunately, there's no proof," Harpyia's normally cool expression was marred with a faint frown. "Not even one additional ship of the R'lyehian navy was dispatched, and the ones already on the sea didn't deviate from their routes. The accompanying ships traveling before and after their majesties didn't spot any abnormalities, either. Even if R'lyeh decided to hire mercenaries or pirates to attack their majesties, any ship would have had to pass at least one to get to them. As suspicious as it is, it's sadly, impossible."

Ondyne wasn't fazed. "Your spies are unparalleled but you can't say that you might have not overlooked something."

Harpyia hid her lips behind her fan and said nothing, but Merag could spot a cruel smirk curling up her cousin's face.

It didn't seem as if Ondyne was done. She cooly glanced at Merag, and Merag had to suppress a shudder. In that glance, it was clear in politics, there could be no friendship. "Queen of Telos," that light voice was suddenly so harsh, "do you plan on continuing your parents' work?"

The floor was on Merag. She sat up straighter and took a deep breath. "No, I won't."

Now that plunged the room into silence. Blackray didn't even bother to hide his frown. "Why not? It's just a marriage. The crown prince Vector isn't nearly as vicious and demanding as his father."

Merag scoffed, tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder. "He's frail. Marry him?" She wanted to sneer at the thought. "All I did was give him a light shove, and he fell down and started crying. He's better off playing with his pet rabbits than being my husband."

"Isn't that better? You can easily manipulate him into doing what you want." Ondyne leaned back in her chair. "Don't you want to exert your influence over R'lyeh once Lord Asteron dies?"

"Better? If that's what you want to call better, that's your own definition," Merag's eyes thinned, "Even my brother wouldn't have had any trouble getting right back up without complaint. To think that I'd marry someone so pitiful is insulting, Queen of Rhode."

"Aren't you selfish?" Harpyia raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Aren't we all? If you're all so desperate for a royal to marry into the R'lyehian family, then why don't you have my brother marry him?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Blackray growled, "His eminence has his duties to the temples. You know he can't marry anyone."

"Then why don't you do it, King of Despoine?" Merag put on her sweetest smile. "Didn't your wife die recently? You're a much better candidate than someone like me."

Blackray snorted. "Cheeky brat."

She nodded at the compliment. "I'm not marrying. Especially not someone spineless like him."

"Either way, R'lyeh is on hold at the moment," Blackray grumbled. "The former empress just died, after all. Lord Asteron claims that he needs time to mourn her death, so there won't be war for at least a week."

"Mourn her death," Harpyia giggled, "The thought! They never agreed on anything."

Ondyne scowled in her chair. "Unfortunately, that works against us. The only things that could have possibly slipped past the guard ships unnoticed would be the disgusting serpents of her late imperial majesty. If Lord Asteron never got along with his mother, there's no way he could have possibly convinced her to do anything like an assassination. She'd turn down the proposal just because it came from him."

"Lord Asteron doesn't have an ounce of magical talent inside him," Harpyia cooly replied, "Her late imperial majesty made no secret of her displeasure with that fact. That works in our favor, since we don't have to face those dreadful creatures of hers. It's much easier to kill men than monsters."

Ondyne pursed her lips together. "I thought we were trying to find a peaceful resolution. Or have we changed our minds?"

Merag's frown was deepening more and more. "R'lyeh has been wanting to grab our lands for generations. They want our ports, our soil, and everything we have. My father always told me how he had to keep R'lyeh's late imperial majesty from grabbing Telos from right beneath him. We've bartered and negotiated, and there's still a fleet on our borders. They won't listen to us unless we fight."

"You're quite brave for saying that, Queen of Telos," Lord Blackray dryly said, "Out of the four of us, Telos has the smallest military. And you have no personal experience on the battlefield. Do you intend to fight the empire's navy all by yourself?"

It took all of Merag's self control to keep her expression neutral. "No, not by myself." She pulled her spine straight, and stood, throwing her voice around the room. "My fellow Kings and Queens, let's be realistic. Let's say R'lyeh attacks- which it will. Telos will fight, and if I'm defeated, then Lord Asteron will have access to the center of our islands, and be able to tear you all down with ease. Either we all fight, or we all fall. But we can't do that if we're arguing against each other."

All of the attention was on her. She'd thought this over again and again, and she wasn't going to let this chance all go to waste. Her heart froze into hard ice, and she looked to all the royals without faltering. "As individual islands, we're weak in the face of an empire's forces. So, I propose an alliance between the four of us. We'll unite our ports, our resources, our economies, and most importantly, our militaries. Even if R'lyeh decides to attack one of us, then the other three will funnel in support to keep a strong front. That way, we won't break even under siege."

The three royals stared in silence, but Merag held herself strong. The quietness was heavy on her shoulders, but she was willing to stand as long as she needed to.

Blackray slowly broke the silence. "So now you're saying that we should work together? Interesting proposal, Queen of Telos. In that case, we need counsels, written agreements-"

"Oh, stop dodging," Harpyia harshly cut him off, "We're all thinking the same thing, but nobody has the courage to say it. 'If there's going to be an alliance, then one of us four is going to have to step up and be the leader.' Which means that the other three will lose their position." She leaned on her hands and put on an elegant smile. "So," she said with sweetness on her tongue, "which one is it going to be?"

"I announce my candidacy," Merag said, raising her hand. "It was my parents that reached out first for negotiations. If it comes to actually fighting a war, it's my responsibility to finish what they started."

Blackray was the next to stand, "I mean no offense, but Despoine has fought far more wars than your kingdom has. We're used to taking military action, and R'lyeh wouldn't stand a chance under our guidance."

"Rhode is closest to the empire," Ondyne said, more firm than willowy in her chair, "If R'lyeh decides to attack, my kingdom will be the first to lose men. I'll bear full responsibility to lead the vanguard."

Merag frowned. This was going nowhere. Every person would vote for themselves and leave the kingdoms with no defensive strategies. She was queen for two weeks and she already felt her stomach churn with nausea. Politics? It was more like propping useless barriers before action.

"Aren't you all convincing?" Harpyia teased, "In that case, I cast my vote for the Queen of Telos."

Merag's eyes widened. She almost didn't believe her ears until Lady Ondyne let out a loud gasp. "For Lady Merag? Why her, Queen of Arion? She just ascended to her position a few weeks ago!"

"I thought this was based off majority rule," Lady Harpyia bluntly said, her smile unmoving. "Or are we now bartering with each other for titles?"

There was no more dissent after that.

Harpyia glanced at Merag, ushering her to stand. "So, what will our alliance be called? I hope you don't consider calling this new union 'Telos', like your home island."

Merag stood, "No, of course not. Telos, Despoine, Rhode, Arion- they will all keep their names as islands. But as a kingdom, no, as a union, we'll have a different name. All of us share the Poseidon Ocean, so why don't we use that as our name? Instead of four separate kingdoms, we will be known as the Four Islands of the Poseidon Ocean."

"I think the 'Four Islands' sounds terrible" Ondyne said, "Why not call us the 'United Lands' instead?"

Merag nodded. "Yes, I think that works out just fine. From today forth, our four front alliance shall be known as the United Lands of the Poseidon Ocean. I may be your new queen, but I don't intend to remove you from power. You will be my council, and you'll continue governing your islands as you've always done, but this time as my dukes and duchesses. I hope that sounds satisfactory to you."

"As long as you don't wrestle away my economics, then I don't see a problem." Ondyne shot Merag a sly wink. "Don't worry, we'll support you to the end. Now, should we let our people know of the decision?"

The announcement was more well-received than Merag imagined, with only twenty minutes of loud whispering and only three broken wine glasses. As much as she liked attention, the way some of the nobles were eyeing her with requests on their tongues for the queen of their new country just made her want to slip away into a corner. Or throw them all out the window. Either one worked.

She spotted Lady Harpyia lounging in a chair by the wine table, munching on spicy oysters, contently ignoring the rest of the rabble.

"Lady Harpyia," Harpyia looked up from beneath her heavy eyelashes, and Merag found herself stumbling for words. What could she say? Harpyia had handed her the crown, and willingly lowered her own position. She wrung her hands, and tried not to puff up her cheeks. "Thank you very much for your support-"

"Oh don't do that," the woman replied, her eyes fixed on Merag's joined hands. Merag quickly broke them apart, and Harpyia let out a small giggle.. She offered Merag a seat and held up the plate. "Oyster?"

"No thank you," Merag said, smoothing out her skirt. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm just a little surprised you didn't want the throne yourself."

Harpyia let out a light laugh and shook her head, silk and beads clinking together. "Really, do you honestly think I could live the ascetic life? It's fine when it's just my kingdom, all my people are eccentric. But all four kingdoms looking at me- I'd have to actually tone down my personal life. The title's not worth it."

"Then why me?"

"If you didn't want to be queen, you shouldn't have announced your candidacy."

"No, it was my responsibility. But I half expected you to say that I was too young."

"You'd be surprised what young people can do," Harpyia let out a snort. "Blackray's an excellent general, but he's too stiff. He doesn't have the flexibility to deal with four islands' worth of dissent. Ondyne is cunning, but she doesn't have the spine to withstand a long assault."

"A long assault?"

"Oh yes," Harpyia spooned another oyster into her mouth. "The R'lyehian royal family's a frightening one. If they're slighted, they don't stop until their accuser is dead." She chewed her food slowly, but her lips curled down. "I still remember when my father took me there when I was young, and the previous empress still reigned. She was terrifying. A real monster"

"The late empress?"

"Oh, yes. The whole family's mad, you know. That woman with those three serpents of hers just smiled at my father and I. After a while, you can tell what sort of person someone is by looking at their eyes. Lord Asteron's violent, but obnoxiously truthful. His mother… she was just waiting for my father to say something wrong. The kind of woman that loves seeing other people die."

Without a single notice, Harpyia quickly sprung back to her amused, unbothered self, "Luckily for us, Lord Asteron doesn't have an ounce of magic in his blood. And if the crown prince is… what did you call him?"

"What didn't I call him?"

"Of course. Quite surprising that he's so feeble then, considering his bloodline. But either way, it's unlikely his mother will let her son fight in a war just yet. Whether he has magic or not will be a hurdle to crush when it appears. As for the war- and it's very much a war- it'll be a much easier to fight if we don't have to deal with those creatures of theirs."

Merag leaned in closer at that, a frown mottling her brow. "Creatures? I thought you said you hadn't heard any reports on the bloodline's magic."

"…Snakes …well, I suppose they are snakes, in one way or another. R'lyeh is a land of mysticism and magic. You didn't honestly think they wouldn't have otherworldly creatures serving them, did you?" Lady Harpyia stood up from her seat, handing her empty plate to a passing servant. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," she said, winking over her shoulder at Merag. "We're all counting on you."

Merag was left frowning in her chair. She clasped her hands together and wrung them until her palms bled.

She was queen, and her kingdom was going to war.